Memorial to Fallen Logger(Times Have Changed)

Last week I hiked through the Partnach Gorge in Bavarian Germany.   Commercial logging took place there from the 1700s to the late 1800s.  Several loggers lost their lives.  There is a memorial with a separate marker for each logger.  This gentleman evidently plummeted into the river from one of the rock formations.  It reminded me that commercial logging is still a dangerous profession.  I guess that is why Axe Men and Swamp Loggers are popular.  They are on BBC with a British narrator which sounds unusual to someone from the southern USA.

It also reminded me how much the emphasis on safety in all hazardous industries has increased through the years.  Sometimes we question if all the regulations and practices are necessary.  They cost time and money, and the regulatory burden is great!   Perhaps a better mindset would be that our responsibilities for public and employee safety are great.  If we accept those responsibilities, then we might avoid memorials for people who lose their lives as a result of our operations.

Posted December 31st, 2010 in Human Factors, Leadership, Observations

Happy New Year and Good Luck

When I see people in top hats and pigs, my first thought is not new beginnings or good luck.  In Germany, they symbolize those things and can be seen in most stores at the end of the old year.   I hope that 2011 is a great year for you, and you are as prosperous as a pig.  I hope you climb high on the ladder of satisfaction in all areas of life and that if you are a chimney sweep, you remain safe in your job.

Let’s apply these old practices to 2011.  Pigs represented prosperity for agricultural families because they provided food, fertilizer, and more pigs!   A pig displays its ability to convert what it consumes into energy.  Therefore, the gift of a candy pig on New Year’s Eve could symbolize good wishes that the recipient prosper, using one’s strengths and forgetting past failures.

The chimney sweep cleans the chimney and the hearth, and lots of people will be cleaning homes, offices, psyches this week and next.  It’s out with clutter and unhealthy practices.   It’s a new beginning, and that requires a clean slate(and chimney).

Look around your workplace.  Would it benefit from a thorough cleaning and purging of old materials?   Could it be a valuable exercise to identify what would make 2011 a more excellent year in managing the risks of your business, including the risks of human factors.  Look at the organization, the job, the individual.  What habits or practices cause problems?  What things, big or small, could improve the work environment?

Pipeline control centers face a big challenge in 2011.  They have to develop and implement a control room management and human factors plan.  This is going to require a mindset, a paradigm shift, in changing practices that may have been followed for many years.   Although the rule requires that changes affecting pipeline safety be correctly managed, the development and implementation of this rule also needs to be managed well and timely.

Sweep clean, be as prosperous as a pig, implement all changes safely, and happy new year!

Posted December 29th, 2010 in Human Factors, Observations, Operational Excellence

Max Kick, No Sugar – A Way to Manage Fatigue?

I walked into a quick mart in Heidelberg, Germany.  It’s interesting that the Germans also are using energy drinks as a way to get some quick energy.  In pipeline control centers, I notice that the younger employees use energy drinks instead of coffee.  I asked our host, an Army employee, if it is similar in the Army.  He said, “Oh, yeah.  The old guys drink coffee, and the youngsters use energy drinks.

When we were at a hotel for military personnel and their guests last week, the buffet restaurant had huge containers of regular coffee and one pot of decaf coffee.  I am used to seeing similar sized pots of regular and decaf coffee in hotels.  Our host said that very few military people drink decaf, since they need the caffeine boost.

What about you?  What about your co-workers?   Are you caffeinated or decaffeinated?  Do you use coffee or energy drinks?   Are these substitutes for adequate sleep?

Posted December 29th, 2010 in Human Factors, Managing Fatigue, Observations